V Corner Helvelyn Line?

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 David Cowley 21 Feb 2018

Having climbed this route a few times I always wondered if I was on the right line and looking at some photos and user comments i'm now unsure if I've climbed this the correct line

The route I've done goes as follows

Started about 20m to the left of no. 2 gully beneath some stepped ice falls

P1 20m?  climb the ice falls up to a corner with hanging icefall and peg belay

P2 climb the corner (3m high?) then up to a belay 30m

P3 follow the groove up to the exit slopes. (no steep corners like I've seen on here)

Am I missing a part of the route

Cheers

David

 petegunn 21 Feb 2018
In reply to David Cowley:

Your description sounds about right, the crux corner has a good crack for gear and hooks with a small ledge on the left wall half way up and a slabby wall to the right.

Easy to get the wrong line in poor visibility though and I think a few folk climb a shallower V groove further left thinking that they are on V Corner but obviously this is not right.

I climb it most winter's and its never been banked out, although the shallower groove does.

 

 

 mrphilipoldham 21 Feb 2018
In reply to petegunn:

So where’s the extended finish go? I thought that was the tough but short corner traversed into from a wider, easier V corner lower down to the left?

OP David Cowley 22 Feb 2018
In reply to Andy Clarke1965:

So do you follow the icefalls up to the peg belay below the overhanging ice and move on from there or is this a different route all together.  I'm a bit confused of it's actual starting point

About 15-20m metres above the short corner we came across this steep vertical ice , had a go at it but bottled it due to it being poor quality ice for gear and a tricky landing. Looked stiff but short

Will have to return for another look

In reply to David Cowley:

All a bit confusing but it sounds to me like you were on the Arete variation, the steep vertical ice you mention would fit, it has a few stiff moves. You can easily traverse hard right into the open snowy groove i mentioned from here, if so this would fit.

Post edited at 14:47
 JDC 22 Feb 2018
 petegunn 22 Feb 2018
In reply to JDC:

The Red line in that photo is correct.

You can see the snowy v groove to the left that I think some people do by mistake.

 wercat 22 Feb 2018
In reply to petegunn:

Pete,

What about the rocky corner even further L, near the edge of the image?  It has a rocky right wall and a sometimes awkward fragile exit - Does this have a name - I've often heard this called V Corner as well!

This is often reached by climbing some slabby icefall pitches not far from No 2 Gully, whose difficulty can vary considerably but usually entertaining.

 

Tried Central Gully on Great End today - LH ice pitch definitely not in.  A party of 2 took the middle ground just r of the ice pitch.  I opted for the Left leading branch just L of the ice pitch which proved blocked by the overhanging chockstone so an exit to a snow crest was made on the L and then up mixed ground, probably about II to finish beside the branch I'd taken.   Cornice of that branch and the normal L finish had both collapsed while the main gullyexit had suffered a collapse which seems more stable and has definitely been climbed.

Water was running under fragile ice in the sections below the amphitheatre so the normal CG routes are not so good but I was quite happy with the results of my escape route, an entertaining outing.

 

Custs in good nick for ascent but size of steps made for laborious descent for the knees.

 

Window looked like trashed

Post edited at 17:49
In reply to JDC:

yes very obvious in that photo, the ice  left of the snowy groove is written up as V corner arete variation, pretty bizzare considering it is a completely independent line, just adds to the confusion.

OP David Cowley 22 Feb 2018
In reply to wercat:

This is the one I've always done but thought it was a bit easier than III. Will return again to do the proper route

 

 wercat 23 Feb 2018
In reply to David Cowley:

Yes, it is often straight forward but can be a horror at times - I've finished occasionally by traversing out right along a crack line  when the ice at the cruxlet has proved too fragile

Post edited at 09:10
 wercat 23 Feb 2018
In reply to David Cowley:

I have done the one now called V Corner I think before it was called that - in the days when the route guide was only mentioning gullies we (all, I think) used to go all over the other lines - I can remember people calling it the ice ramp/runnel L of  No 2.   Also the icy step L up a wall before the corner, which I always thought harder than the continuation up the corner.   All entirely dependent on conditions of course, but the step up the wall can be pretty well a steep icicle in some winters I seem to remember.


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